


Vampires

by Accelaa



Category: Daria (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, College, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Post-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27421774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accelaa/pseuds/Accelaa
Summary: Daria and Jane have begun going to college in Boston, and share an apartment.As Jane discovers college parties, art fairs, and everything she thinks she's ever wanted, she finds herself starting to feel out of touch with the world around her. Daria explores the depths of loneliness, perusing the midnight streets with nothing but reckless curiosity. Neither of them feel satisfied with the nightlife they attend to, and ponder about the idea of happiness itself.What neither of them realize is that the missing piece is right in front of them.
Relationships: Jane Lane/Daria Morgendorffer
Comments: 9
Kudos: 10





	Vampires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daria becomes intrigued by Boston’s nighttime activities, among other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been in the works for awhile now, so I’m happy to finally have the first chapter out. Hope you enjoy

“...Your _assignment will be due next Thursday, the first day of the fair. Does anyone have any questions…?”_

Daria listened to her professor drone on as usual. It was a cool, sleepy day in Boston, and schoolwork was the last thing she had on her mind. Her workload for school was light enough for her to understand things easily for the time being, so she had ample time to focus on things other than her professor’s lectures. The music coming through her earbuds, for example, proved to be much more interesting. 

As soon as she heard the sound of the bell, she promptly got up and began to walk out of the classroom, avoiding eye contact with anyone as she headed out. ...But, this plan did not work as intended.

A hand landed firmly on her shoulder, then the voice of her professor. “Daria, I’d like to talk to you for a moment,” he spoke gently. 

She took out one of her earbuds and turned around, looking sideways. “Er, what’s up?” she asked with a hint of confusion.

Her professor smiled, putting his hands together as he prepared to speak. He was one of those types who always seemed a little too calm and cheery for her. “You know about the festival coming up, correct?”

“I’ve been hearing about it just about everywhere all week,” said Daria. “But yeah, what about it?” 

“Well, I’ll just get to the point, I think it would be interesting if you read some of your writing for our literary event. You have such a unique voice and perspective… it would be a shame to have our attendees miss out on your talent.” 

Daria thought for a moment. Public speaking really didn’t appeal to her that much, but maybe if she read something satirical it would ease her mind about the whole thing. Then again, she could get some great exposure, and she didn’t really want to make herself seem like a big joke if there happened to be someone seeking potential there. 

“Well…” Daria started slowly. “I suppose I could think up something…” 

“Great!” said her professor with glee, the lines under his eyes crinkling up as he grinned. “I’m thinking something that captures the dreary side of fall. Coldness, change, whatever comes to mind, but also the idea of there being a safe light at home waiting for you. It doesn’t have to be long. Does that make sense?” 

Daria nodded, “I think I understand what you mean.”

“Lovely, then,” he headed back to his work desk. “I’ll see you then.” He waved and smiled. 

She gave a simple half-smile and left the classroom. The halls were mostly empty, aside from a few after-school groups participating in club activities. They were smiling and laughing, decorating posters with all sorts of sparkly craft materials and bold lettering, or playing party games that annoyed the professors in the classrooms nearby. 

These people seemed happy. But they didn’t seem naive, either. 

She glanced at the various posters already hung up on the wall, wondering about what they entailed. Most of them weren’t for her, such as the sports clubs, but there were a few standalone events that caught her eye, most of them involving art or literature in some capacity. She made a mental note to tell Jane about them later.

When Daria stepped out of the school building, the rainy weather was less than inviting. The clouds in the sky were a dismal grey, quite a contrast to the blue skies just that morning. The last thing she wanted to do was get soaked, but she unfortunately had to blame herself for not bringing an umbrella with her. 

As she set out to the bus stop, she observed the old, twisted oak trees around the campus grounds. Their leaves were beginning to all turn to fiery reds, yellows and oranges. Beneath her feet, there were muddied leaves on the pavement that had already fallen down, trampled by shoes and rainwater. 

Fall was an enjoyable season for Daria, despite the sometimes inconvenient rain. The atmosphere invited in darker colors, warmer clothes, and a quiet serenity within the confines of one’s own home. She hated to admit it, but during the summer she tended to have a fear of missing out. She wasn’t really a sunshine person, and many summer activities involved, well... being in the sunshine. Usually, her temptations to read whatever new novel she bought would override that feeling of alienation, but she’d rather it be out of the way entirely. 

Continuing to head down the sidewalk, she caught herself wondering if Jane felt similarly about the seasons’ changing. She probably didn’t ponder about it as much as she did. She also probably enjoyed it more for Halloween, than anything else. The idea made her wonder what kind of weird activities she would be coming up with for the holiday. Probably something strange and fucked up, as she usually did. 

She was about to make herself comfortable on the bus stop bench when she saw her usual ride pull up right then. She took a moment to appreciate that she wouldn’t have to wait in the rain, and stepped onto the bus accordingly. 

Daria made her way to the back of the bus and lodged herself into one of the empty seats, then pulled her book bag up onto her lap. She gently opened the leather flap, then stuck her hand inside and sifted through its materials. What she pulled out was a simple notebook, the buckskin texture of its binding feeling soft beneath her fingertips. She opened it to one of its first pages, where she had left a pen as a bookmark, and looked down intently. 

Hm. Nothing. 

She took the pen out for a moment, using her thumb to take off the cap. 

_It’s raining outside._ She wrote. 

No, too mundane. She wasn’t going to waste all her paper on fall weather reports. 

_It’s raining outside. And Jane, I can’t get your name out of my head, which worries me, because you and I both know I have dependency issues._

The statement unnerved her. She simply stared at the paper, expressionless. She brushed her fingertips over the sentence she had just written, and then quickly closed the notebook. The barometric pressure must have been messing with her head. 

Get home. Do homework. Go to bed. That was her new plan. No significant writing would come out of this day, but maybe it would in the coming days instead.

She stared out the window at the blurry traffic passing by. A tiredness slowly washed over her as she counted the lights of the cars moving by. In the greyness, they were oddly peaceful. 

When the bus pulled up at Daria’s usual stop, its brakes hissed to a halt. She was jolted out of her trance, and got off quickly, thanking the bus driver as she went through the doors. She then made her usual trek back to her and Jane’s apartment.

It was a humble apartment, with only three rooms, but neither Jane nor Daria minded much, as long as it was comfortable. If Daria had space for her books and collections, she was happy. And as a plus, Jane had no qualms about Daria displaying her bone collection on the shelves.

Their decor was simple but varied. There were posters on the walls of New Wave bands, some of Jane’s own paintings that she was particularly proud of, and various unconventional items on the shelves. Neither of them went too crazy with trying to make it look coordinated, and they weren’t as intense about home design as some. It was personable, and that was enough. 

Daria opened the door to their apartment as usual, feeling relieved to finally be somewhere indoors. The room was lit softly by a lamp near the sofa, and quiet music drifted from Jane’s CD player. Jane herself was sitting on a bench near the window, completely absorbed in the canvas propped up in front of her. Daria gave a small smile and closed the door, setting her bag down at the doorway and slipping off her boots.

“Hey,” she said softly, as to not spook her. 

Jane turned around, “Oh, hey!” She set her paintbrush down. “What’s up? You have a good day?”

“Yeah,” said Daria. “Sorry I was late,” she added and headed to the sofa

“No problem,” said Jane. “What kept you?”

“You know that fall festival thing Raft is having?” asked Daria. 

“Yeah, we’re still going to that, right?” 

“More than ‘going,’ apparently,” 

Jane raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you’re involved, now?” 

“Not willingly,” said Daria. “But I figured it could be good exposure for the future.” 

Jane turned around, resting both of her hands on the bench. “Go on, tell me about it,” she said, and waited for Daria attentively.

Daria glanced down sheepishly. Jane’s full and undivided attention made her feel a bit self-conscious. “Um…”

“C’mon, Morgendorffer, don’t get shy with me,” Jane pressed, smirking as she crossed her arms. 

Daria sighed. “Well, it’s supposed to be about bleakness and change, and shit like that I guess,” she explained. 

“So, familiar territory for you,” 

“Yeah… I’m not really sure what I’m gonna write about yet, but I have almost two weeks, and it doesn’t have to be too long.”

“You need any inspiration?” asked Jane. 

“I think I’m okay for now, but thanks,” said Daria. She watched as Jane gathered her tubes of paint off the windowsill, and silently studied the painting she had been working on. A close-up of a green-eyed tiger’s face, looking straight ahead. Daria admired the stroke work. The colors were so vibrant, and the shading so intricate. 

“Your painting’s really nice,” mused Daria. 

Jane turned around and smiled, “Yeah? I’m glad you like it. It was supposed to be a warm up but I got kind of lost in it.” She screwed a cap onto one of her paint tubes, a bright orange, and tossed it into a plastic bin with the rest of her supplies. 

“I hope you don’t mind me letting this dry out here overnight,” 

Daria shook her head, “It’s fine.” 

When Jane was finished cleaning up, she stretched out her arms. “Yikes,” she said with a grimace.

“What’s up?” asked Daria. 

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said Jane with a dismissive wave. 

Daria watched as Jane slipped off her jacket and set it aside on the glass coffee table. She sighed, running her fingers through her fluffy black hair, with an unenthusiastic look on her face. Daria wondered if something was wrong, but she didn’t know if it was the right time to ask. 

“Have you finished your homework yet?” she opted for instead.

Jane shook her head, “I don’t need to right now.” 

“Oh, why not?” 

“I’d rather spend time with you.” Though she said this casually, Daria could feel her hands prickling at the gesture. The temptation to spend all night with Jane was suddenly a lot stronger than the desire to do her _own_ homework. 

“Um… ok. Do you have anything in mind? I’d kind of just like to watch TV, to be honest,” 

“Yeah sure, anything specific?” Jane sat down and made herself comfortable next to Daria, stretching one arm out across the linen cushions. 

“Whatever’s on.” Daria let out a silent breath, letting the tension of her daytime troubles escape her. 

Jane pressed a button on her CD player and grabbed the remote controller sitting next to it. She turned on the TV and switched to a random channel, sitting back to take in whatever movie they had just stumbled across. Daria did similarly, shifting around a bit until she was comfortable. 

The two spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching whatever happened to come on. The channel they stumbled upon happened to show a lot of low-budget romance movies, which Daria and Jane both took pleasure in making fun of. Sarcasm was exchanged and logical holes were poked through, investment in over-dramatic relationships was feigned. Between commercials, Daria found herself constantly glancing back at Jane, even though no particular reason should have lead her to. 

When it had been several hours since they began their impromptu marathon, Daria, awake as ever, was particularly focused on a shitty Romeo and Juliet rip-off. “These two are getting a little too steamy for being inside of a public coffee shop… Eugh, how much do you think the extras were paid?” 

There was no response from Jane. Daria looked over and realized she was fast asleep, laid down on the other half of the couch with a blanket clutched in her hands. How she could fall asleep with such ease seemed like such a mystery. She looked so peaceful, the snark in her usual demeanor completely gone, like a sleeping tiger. Daria didn’t want to look away. Maybe it was a protective instinct. (Not that she had one.) 

She looked out the window. Complete darkness, but the pitter-pattering of the rain on their windows had stopped.

“Oh, wow…” she uttered to herself quietly, giving a slight yawn. She wondered about the time. The screen on Jane’s CD player glowed in the darkness, displaying the hour and minute on it. Daria glanced down at it, and suddenly felt a lot more tired when she realized it was past midnight. 

She took the remote off the coffee table and turned the TV off. Anymore of Starbucks Romeo and Juliet would be dangerous to the mental psyche. 

Then, she turned back to Jane. Beneath the coffee table, there was a folded pile of blankets. Daria took the one on the top, a white, wool-knit throw, and gently laid it upon her. She turned around without another glance, an awkward feeling about the whole thing overcoming her.

Suddenly, she remembered that they hadn’t even had dinner. 

_“No wonder I’m acting so weird,”_ thought Daria as she opened the fridge. 

Unfortunately, nothing in there seemed appetizing, so she had to go with a different plan. She grabbed her wallet off of the counter and made her way to the front door. There was a little cafe just down the block that she figured would do the trick. 

As Daria exited the apartment, she made sure to leave a light on as to not attract any unwanted visitors, then went about her little journey as planned. 

Outside, the night air was cold and still. It smelled of damp soil and bark, but was almost as motionless as the surroundings of their apartment complex. It was a lifeless place at night, and the unwavering energy of everything around Daria was enough to make her just slightly nervous about being out so late. Fog and dying leaves, the black sky void of its stars, and broken lamp posts across the street weren’t reassuring.

Down the block, she knew it would be a little less dead. There were multiple places open late enough that kept the humanity alive. As she got close to the local cafe, her fears of being kidnapped of an alleyway dissipated, if only just a bit. 

The bell of the cafe door jingled as Daria pulled open the door. A single waitress stood at the front counter, looking a bit too cheery for having to work at 2 in the morning.

“Why, hello there!” she greeted Daria in a southern accent, sounding as cheerful as she looked. 

“Uh, hey.” Daria did her best to be civil back, but the dark circles under her eyes and the pit of emptiness inside her made it a bit hard. 

“So, what am I doing for you today?” 

“Something quick that’ll satiate me enough to fall asleep,” she suggested.

The waitress, who looked to be about middle-aged with greying hair, tapped the end of her pen on her chin. “Well, that’s a bit specific…” she pondered aloud. 

“Um, yeah, but it’s what I need, I guess,” 

“Well, sounds easy enough. Why don’t you go sit in that there booth and wait while I whip something up?” She directed Daria towards an empty seat by the window, and headed into the back kitchen. 

“ _Shouldn’t I have paid first? That’s what I’m supposed to do, right?”_ thought Daria as she went and sat down. But the thought quickly escaped her head as she focused on the view outside. The bleakness of it all was strangely calming. 

After a bit of time passed, the waitress came out holding a tray with a plate on it. Daria perked up, her excitement seeming rather subdued to someone who didn’t know her well. 

“Here ya go. Tell me if this meets your needs,” she said, setting the plate down on the table. 

Daria was delighted to see an actual meal for once. Usually she was too lazy to cook, and often ended up substituting ramen for actual sustenance. 

“Err, I should pay now, right?” she asked. 

The waitress gave a wave of her hand that said “no need.” “Later. Now that I think about it, you _do_ look a little ghostly…” She walked away from the table, leaving Daria alone. 

She wasn’t wrong. She felt ghostly, too. 

As Daria began to dig into the eggs sitting in front of her, she observed the interior of the cafe itself. The cream-colored paint on the walls was peeling, and the lights were so fluorescent they hurt her eyes. When she thought about it, the whole place smelled like cigarette smoke, too. How charming.

“Who owns this place?” Daria asked, jabbing her fork into a piece of broccoli. 

“My father does,”

“Has he considered having it redecorated?” 

“Well, I sure have, but…” 

“Why not, then?” 

“Well, redecorating is a little hard when you have dementia!” 

“Oh.” Daria set her fork down, regretting that she’d asked. 

“Ah- don’t worry about it, though. He’s a happy man,” 

“Are you happy?” 

“Generally,” 

“Lucky you.” She sounded sarcastic, but she meant it sincerely.

Daria managed to scarf down her food rather quickly after their little conversation, and paid accordingly. 

“You seem like the miserable type,” said the waitress. 

“I wouldn’t be sitting all alone in a booth of a run-down cafe at two in the morning if I wasn’t,” Daria quipped back. 

“You make a good point,” the waitress chuckled. “$5.38 should be your total,”

“Wait, seriously? That tasted way better than five bucks.” Despite the aged look of the place, the food was good as hell. 

The waitress shrugged. “I’m here to keep people happy, not give ‘em a run for their money.” 

“Fair enough.” Still looking a bit surprised at the low price, Daria swiped her card. She made sure to open her wallet and drop a bill in the tip jar as well. 

“Hey,” said the waitress as Daria turned around to leave. 

“Yeah?” 

“You come back sometime. I wouldn’t mind chattin’ with ya again,” 

“I think I can make that work.” Daria pushed the handle of the door and gave a slight wave as she went out of the cafe. Feeling slightly less tired, she turned her eyes towards the next block down the street. People walked in and out of one particular building, one building glowing purple and blue in the night. 

Before she could stop herself, Daria found herself travelling towards the colorful light like a moth to a flame. What could this be that was attracting so many people? 

She got up to the front of the building, curious excitement overtaking her as she made her way into the crowd. There were a few murmurs of annoyance from those around her as she elbowed her way through. 

When she got to the front, she took no time inspecting every aspect of the place. The sign was neon, blue and purple with a bold, cursive-like 80s font. The place was called “The Digibar.” She’d heard the name before, but didn’t have any idea that it was so popular. A quick glance through the windows showed that it was nothing special aside from the shiny exterior. Even the windows themselves were dirty and stained. Beside her, there was a young man who looked close in age to her. 

She turned to him, skepticism in her eyes. “Why’s this place so popular?” she asked. 

“That’s a secret,” he gave her a wink and went in. She didn’t have much time to register his features, but could tell he was freckled, wearing a beanie, and that the clothes on his back were way too big for him. 

“Hey, wait!” called Daria. But he was already out of earshot. She humphed and accepted that she’d have to set aside her curiosity for the time being. Most of the people there didn’t look like those she would want to approach anyways, especially at such an early hour. 

Making her way out of the crowd, she decided it would be a good idea to head home. Anymore wandering around that early, and she’d end up having to crawl out of some guy’s basement. 

Still, she found herself looking back towards the building’s distant glow. 

When Daria got home, it was as silent as it was before. Jane was still sleeping on the couch, so she decided to just go to bed alone. 

In the bedroom, she took a moment to look out the window. There were no stars to marvel at in this sky. Their twinkle had always been more evident in Lawndale. 

She took off her glasses and set them on the windowsill, frames illuminated in the moonlight. Then, with a defeated sigh, she crawled into the closest bed and closed her eyes. 

But she felt no warmth beneath the covers. The bleakness of this place was beginning to creep up on her, ever-so-slightly. Between her classes, the nighttime walks, and Jane being gone half the time, it had all become clear. 

Boston wasn’t Lawndale. It was much more lonely.

  
  



End file.
